China’s most famous national liquor will soon get its time in the world of Crypto, as the team behind Italian Wine Crypto Bank are poised to launch what it calls world’s “first-ever Baijiu bank” in September.

The project is described as “an innovative initiative that will put together blockchain, NFTs, digital assets and one of the most sought-after collectible Chinese liqueurs all around the world: the Baijiu”, according to the creator.

Distilled from sorghum, rice and other grains, the most sought-after Baijiu comes from Kweichow Moutai. Like Champagne which is geographically protected, only Baijiu made in China’s Maotai town inside Guizhou province can be called Moutai. A bottle of Moutai can easily fetch thousands and millions for rare vintage bottles.

Baijiu bank (pic: handout)

Crypto Baijiu Bank will be launched in September (pic: handout)

“Its name is Crypto Baijiu Bank”, say Vinicio Eminenti, a prominent wine and spirits distributor based in Guangzhou and in China for more than 25 years. He is a partner of the Hong Kong-based company The I Factor LTD that owns the trademark of the Crypto World Wine Bank and the Italian Wine Crypto Bank. 

“We are building this revolutionary concept on the expertise accumulated in these last years with our crypto wine banks,” says Vinicio Eminenti, a wine and spirits distributor based in Guangzhou and in China for more than 25 years.

He is a partner of the Hong Kong-based company The I Factor LTD that owns the trademark of the Crypto World Wine Bank and the Italian Wine Crypto Bank. 

The platform will accept a wide range of Cryptos, 20 in total, according to the company, which are BTC, ETH, ADA, BNB, LTC, TRN, DOGE, USDT, DAI, SHIB, BUSD, NANO, BTCV, BTT, XLM, TUSD, USDC, WBTC, PAX USD.

However, Baijiu especially pedigreed Baijiu like fine wines also suffer from counterfeit problems, if not worse. When asked about verification and authenticity, the company says it will use blockchain technology to track and monitor each bottle.

“First of all the Baijiu will come from producers or verified suppliers. The bottles will carry a NFC crypto-tag that is able at tracking down the movements of each one and detect if they have been opened or tampered. We are going to use our own blockchain technology, the same that we are implementing for the Crypto World Wine Bank,” explains Sabrina Anastasi from The I Factor LTD.

But China’s hardline stance on cryptocurrency trading means the platform will have a hard time reaching out to its producing country and largest consumer market, where NFTs exit in a Crypto-less format.

“We do not intend to bypass that, the NFT will be available on international platforms at the beginning and we hope that in a near future they can be traded legally on a secondary market in China as well,” Anastasi explains.

“These NFTs are not cryptocurrencies but just digital collectible items, with a key to redeem a bottle of baijiu,” she adds.